ZOOM IN
The Right to an Education
By Nicolas Joncour
Translated into English from French by : Laurence Le Blet , Nicholas ’ mother
Adecent life in France is practically impossible for an autistic student , especially if you are nonverbal like me . In special schools there is no real education , and the psychiatric hospital remains the norm . As my mother encounters more and more difficulties to enroll me in a normal school , the only solution to an equal opportunity is maybe to leave France . I want to go to university to study the Holocaust as people with disabilities are still destined to horrific fates .
My hope is to study history and the Holocaust , a subject that has intrigued me for almost six years . Specifically , Operation T4 , which is the eradication of the people with disabilities by the Nazis . Perhaps the Holocaust interests me because I feel the discrimination in relation to my disability . The eyes of others are like deportation camps without return for me .
Without my mother I would likely be in a psychiatric hospital . The right to education definitely remains the domain of utopia . The more I grow , the more I realize I do not have my place in society . I have to fight to deserve to dream . My disability , autism and dyspraxia , makes me look like a mentally-challenged person . People talk to me as if I am a small child , and they watch my gestures as if I am a monster .
“ A decent life in France is practically impossible for an autistic student ,
especially if you are nonverbal like me .”
love that I do not feel alone . I think I have the right to denounce my condition and my social discrimination as long as I would suffer of it . The right to a dignified life is my fight , and I recently joined the ENIL Youth Network to create change . Nonverbal autistic people demand recognition of their right to a real education .
My life would be rather simple if people would consider me as a person rather than a thing to eradicate . I want my intelligence to be recognized without having to meet the low expectations of people who doubt me . The peculiarity of my disability is that I understand very well what kind of people I have to deal with . The inability to defend myself makes me vulnerable to all attacks . Not being able to express oneself orally is a very hard way to live .
People do not consider my written prose without doubt . Not even my relatives who do not understand autism . To be recognized , mentalities must change , and the way we move , having no eye contact and no speech , shouldn ’ t exclude us from living a fulfilled life . For this to happen , we need the right to education , an education which mustn ’ t be negotiable and should be accessible to all .
The reality is that all their looks are like the slam of a cattle wagon door . My connections towards the victims of Operation T4 are very strong , and my reality joins their fatal destiny . I have faith that helps me , and God gives me so much
Nicolas Joncour is a 16-year-old nonverbal autistic student who types . He lives in France and is homeschooled and in mainstream school for a few hours per week .
Follow him on Facebook and visit his blog .
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